50 of the
283 complaints filed about the Toyota Prius C
are about the electrical system —
18% of everything owners reported.
The worst model year for it is 2013.
While driving the hybrid battery light turned on. The car then began to reduce its speed and I had to pull over. I restarted the car and on one of the fuses to the computer to restart it. I began to drive the car back home and it did it again. I recently had a hybrid battery replaced in the vehicle. I was on the freeway both times and this caused me a lot of anxiety. There were two individuals in the vehicle, which both were at risk of being injured if there was a collision. We need it to pull over within less than 30 seconds. They appeared in the morning and a year prior. A year previously I replaced the battery. There was an odd buzzing sound in the back of the driver seat were the vent was.
NHTSA complaint #11748313 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2012 Toyota Prius C. The contact stated that while driving 20 MPH, the message "Check Hybrid Status - Stop vehicle in Safe Place Immediately" was displayed. There were several warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with an internal power module transmitter and MG control computer inside the inverter assembly failures. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact called an independent mechanic, and DTC: P0A94 (DC/DC converter or inverter performance problem invertor assembly) was associated with the failure. The manufacturer was contacted, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 98,015.
NHTSA complaint #11722252 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
My 2013 Toyota Prius has a failed inverter/converter assembly, including the Intelligent Power Module (IPM). This component is critical for vehicle operation and designed to last the life of the car. Premature IPM shorting and inverter failure is a known defect acknowledged by Toyota through multiple recalls and service campaigns for other VINs with the same part number. My vehicle is giving codes P0A94 and P0A1A which are also listed in the recalls for other Prius models of similar age. My vehicle experiences the same failure, yet Toyota has denied goodwill coverage, claiming “insufficient service history.” Routine maintenance like oil changes and brake inspections does not affect this component, making the denial unreasonable. There is nothing to service on the inverter. This defect poses a serious safety risk, sudden inverter failure caused total loss of power while driving and loss of power steering, it was difficult to pull my car off the road. This poses a danger to drivers, passengers, and others on the road. Toyota’s exclusion of my VIN from coverage leaves me financially responsible for a known safety defect. I request NHTSA to investigate Toyota’s handling of inverter/IPM failures, the denial of goodwill assistance for affected VINs, and ensure that Toyota addresses this life-threatening defect consistently across all affected vehicles instead of narrowing the scope on who gets coverage when this is a dangerous electrical malfunction.
NHTSA complaint #11690862 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I purchased my 2015 Prius C in July of 2016. Since then I have consistently had issues with the lock actuator going out on various doors. As follows: 3/12/18 - Driverside 6/13/18 - Passenger Front 8/3/20 - Driverside 8/5/22 - Rear Driverside 12/16/22 - Passenger Front 3/14/23 - Driverside and now in July of 2025 the Driverside actuator is failing, AGAIN. The previous times were covered by my warranty, but that ended in 2023. My car is also kept in a garage. The dealership attempted to blame this issue on the elements, but come on...if that was the case, this would be happening to all sorts of various cars, and it's not. This is an issue for a variety of reasons, one being I am unable to access getting into my vehicle with the door lock that is not working. I currently have to go to my passenger side and crawl over to unlock my driverside door. If I needed to get into my car quickly, I would be out of luck. This is RIDICULOUS as this is the SEVENTH time a lock has gone out - making it about every year and a half that a lock needs to be replaced - and the 4th time for my driverside. How is this not a recall issue???
NHTSA complaint #11672857 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
We were driving on a city street about 25-30mph and the car jerked suddenly and the lights on the dashboard illuminated and the "Check Hybrid System" message came up as well. The car was able to coast to a nearby parking lot. We attempted to drive the car home and the car stalled in the middle of the street. We were able to push the car off the road and then get it towed. The presented a potentially very dangerous situation as the car had a complete failure while driving in the middle of the road. The Toyota service department ran a diagnosis which returned DTC P0A94. All of this indicates that the car should be covered under the CUSTOMER CONFIDENCE PROGRAM 23TE03 however that program seems to only cover the 2010-2015 Prius and 2011-2017 Prius V models and not the Prius C. There are several reports of this same issue happening on the Prius C as well though so it doesn't make sense that it is not covered.
NHTSA complaint #11667479 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I am writing to express a complaint regarding the issues I have experienced with the brake system of my Toyota Prius C, 2012 model. For the past several months, I have noticed that the brakes exhibit strange noises, soft pedal sensation, reduced braking efficiency, were driving and the ABS, traction, brake, and that other light turned on and the brakes became slow these issues have been observed on multiple occasions and pose a safety risk to myself, other drivers, and pedestrians. I have taken the vehicle for inspection, but the problems persist or have not been definitively resolved. I believe these faults may be related to defects in the braking system, and therefore I request a thorough inspection and necessary repairs at no cost, considering that the manufacturer could be responsible for manufacturing defects.
NHTSA complaint #11664280 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Immobilized failure due to combination of brake hose failure preventing hybrid control/shift actuator. Hybrid steering lock became disengaged and could not communicate with the certification ecu due constant power being disabled due to complete main body failure. Hybrid system cannot go back into park however ecm side did. Ecm was not receiving power as dealer coded main body as a plug in hybrid effectively disabling fuel systems (including emissions/fuel safety) causing full misclassification in the smart key certification process. Car starts, goes into ready and disables LIN comms alongside cutting main relay due to tailgate and fuel constant powers being cut while driving.
NHTSA complaint #11614548 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
While my daughter was driving brake pedal faded and rear brakes locked up causing her to lose initial control of car . Steering felt tight . Many warning lights , check hybrid system , brake lights , steering warning lights , along with abs lights came on . Took car to Toyota dealer to diagnose it needs brake booster and master cylinder module . Service consultant said known issue with TSB but it had expired . Many , many complaints of this same incident of Toyota and Prius forums .
NHTSA complaint #11597788 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
My vehicle has under 150,000 miles. I was driving on the highway and my Prius lost power and left me on the side of the road. I took it to Toyota to run a diagnostic in Elk Grove Ca. I was told the ipm inverter, control computer had to be replaced and it would cost me $5,200.00. This is a real disappointment because I don’t have this money to fix the vehicle.
NHTSA complaint #11520646 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
According to Toyota Dealership, "WILL NEED TO REPLACE (MG1) HV TRANSAXLE UNIT AS 1ST STEP IN ORDER TO TO BE ABLE TO PROCEED WITH DIAGNOSE AND CHECKED FOR ANY OTHER SHORTED COMPONENTS". Vehicle is available for inspection. Vehicle was being driven on a city street towards a red light when the vehicle experienced a jolt and lost complete acceleration power and a "Check Hybrid System" was displayed on the dashboard. Luckily all vehicles behind were already coming to a stop for the red light, otherwise, the safety of my family and myself may have been put in more serious harm. Vehicle able to crawl to a nearby gas station. Attempted to use remaining battery power to drive back to residence nearby, but lost all battery power/function and puled into a bus lane where vehicle was towed from. There were no warning lights or messages displayed prior to the incident. Toyota Dealership performed DTC verification 3 times and found to verify P0A94 detail code 172 is the persistent DTC when memory is cleared. They also inspected the vehicle for concern and were able to verify Check Engine Light is ON, vehicle is on "Limp Mode" and does not "Ready ON". The vehicle has not been inspected by anyone else other than the Toyota Dealership.
NHTSA complaint #11500797 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I was driving on the expressway and experienced a sudden loss of power. The internal combustion engine suddenly stopped and did not deliver any power to the wheels. I immediately received a message on the system that said 'Check Hybrid System Stop Vehicle in a Safe Place'. The electric motor still continued to provide some power with the available battery charge. I was able to make it to the shoulder of the road but it was challenging to get to the shoulder with no power or warning and high speed traffic. My wife and I were in the vehicle. The vehicle had no engine or error codes until the failure on the expressway. The vehicle has the code P0A1A and P0A94. This is consistent with the error codes in the NHTSA 19V491000 recall and Toyota Safety Recalls E0E and F0R.
NHTSA complaint #11490716 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2013 Toyota Prius C. The contact stated that while driving at slow speeds, the vehicle stalled as a system failure warning message appeared on the instrument panel. The vehicle inadvertently turned. The vehicle was restarted but shifted into limp mode with the message displayed. The contact was able to restart the vehicle and then drove the vehicle to the residence. Upon investigation, the contact discovered NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V369000 (Hybrid Propulsion System) and 14V053000 (Hybrid Propulsion System, Electrical System) which she linked to the failure. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 66,000.
NHTSA complaint #11471817 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Without warning my 2013 prius C stalled on the freeway with a hybrid battery warning. When the car was shut off it had intermittent problems with starting. After jumping the car battery , it ran normally again for some time before the stalling problem persisted. The hybrid battery stopped running and I received a warning light. Diagnostics at my repair shop said it was an inverter issue.I see that toyota has recalled several models for similar issues with the inverter. When the car is jumped it seems to work for a short time before stalling out again. Has created a real safety issue for me and there is a real lack of information on behalf of toyota on whether or not it will be covered under existing models. It seems like every model toyota from this year was recalled for an inverter issue. The car does run normally on occasion, charges the battery, and will run on EV, but mostly remains in a stalled out low power mode after it has these stalling episodes.e Diagnostics have stated to me that the car batteries are healthy and I relplaced the 12V and several fuses etc throughout this process with similar results.
NHTSA complaint #11444160 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Certain 2018+ and all later Toyota Prius C modes have a 12V battery for which there is currently no OEM or aftermarket replacement. The battery has a form factor (shape and size) that is exclusive to these vehicles and not used in any other car sold in North America. Vehicles with failed batteries (like mine) cannot be operated. Toyota should retrofit these cars to accommodate the battery used in early (pre-2017) model cars which is electrically identical and available as an aftermarket replacement item.
NHTSA complaint #11442218 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
While driving, I received a warning "hybrid system malfunction". Within seconds, the vehicle powered off and the steering wheel LOCKED. I had no control of the car and came to an abrupt stop in lane 1 of a two lane road. I was fortunate that it was late in the evening with few cars on the road, had I been on the highway during rush hour the outcome, due to loss of power and control (steering), could have been catastrophic and perhaps fatal for me or other commuters. I note that in 2014, Toyota notified NHTSA of a recall to, "rectify software in two of the Prius's electronic control units, one for the motor/generator and the other controlling the hybrid system." Further Toyota said, "In rare circumstances, it could shut down the hybrid system itself, resulting in loss of power and the vehicle coming to a stop". This is exactly what happened to me the other night. Toyota claims, in 2014, that "it has received no reports of accidents or injuries related to the problem." This seems to be an extraordinarily amount of good luck as I could have been easily rear-ended the other night. Curiously, in this NHTSA data base, another owner reported an incident (11439720) on November 8, 2021, that is similar to the experience I had just days prior. And our VINS are eerily close. Coincidence? Not likely. Does the 2014 recall apply to my car and if not, why not given I experienced the exact same symptoms?
NHTSA complaint #11441194 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I was driving going 45mph when my car shut off and wouldn't start back up. It almost caused an accident from it stopping in the middle of the highway. The master warning light, brake system warning light, warning buzzer ABS warning light and the slip indicator light came on as also the message center reading to have the hybrid system checked immediately. I did have ot towed on for a diagnosis and it came back saying i needed a new inverter power module this will cost $2000 . i cant afford that. I read all over the internet how there is. Safety recalls. When i called toyota they said there are no recalls so now im stuck paying this. Not happy at all!!! If there are anymore 2012 prius with this problem please write a complaint so we can get this on recall and have the company cover the cost of repair.
NHTSA complaint #11437830 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I was driving with my 10 year old son on local city streets. I was approaching a busy intersection while going approximately 35 miles when my car just turned off with an error message about the hybrid system failing. I stopped the car and put it in park while trying to turn the car back on, but I kept getting the same hybrid system error message. While the stoplight was red, I got my son out of the car and over to the sidewalk because this was a dangerous situation where anyone not paying attention could've slammed into my stalled car (see picture of black Toyota Prius). I called AAA to get it towed. About 20 minutes later, a cop car pulled up to block my stalled car and then got it pushed to the side of the road (picture attached) because of how dangerous it was sitting there blocking traffic at a major intersection. My car was taken to Cabe Toyota dealership where they diagnosed it with a failed IPM card, which would cost around $4,000 to replace. I did a simple Google search and found that 80,000 Prius from 2012 - 2014 have been recalled for this EXACT reason. There have also been class action lawsuits surrounding this IPM failure due to its extreme safety risks to anyone inside a car that will just die in the middle of driving it, especially when their fail-safe system does not get triggered with this particular IPM failure. As of right now, the car is available for inspection because it's still at Cabe Toyota. The invoice shows that the IPM card needs to be replaced. There were NOT any warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms prior to the car shutting off while driving it. It had been running just fine.
NHTSA complaint #11432520 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.